by Parker, Ali
I still didn’t like how unprofessionally we had acted in front of him by talking about it, but since he didn’t seem to mind I decided to let it go. Beating myself up over it was useless. I apologized, I tried to make it up to him and he said not to worry. That was all there was to it.
“Thanks for understanding.”
His mouth curled up into a slow, beautiful smile. “No problem. Are you okay? Your friend was pretty vocal about how upset she was, but you haven’t said much.”
“I’m fine. I don’t think they’ll get rid of us all.” My eyebrows pushed together as I frowned. “At least I hope not. I have faith in this company, it would be awful if it turned out to be as soulless as all the others.”
He nodded. “Do you think you’ll apply for any of the promotions?”
Would I? I didn’t know. “I’m pretty happy where I am at the moment. I’ll look at the positions available of course, and who knows, maybe I will apply for one. I just don’t know.”
The lounge started emptying out around us. I looked up at the clock, surprised to see we’d been in here almost an hour. “I should get back to work. Thanks again for understanding. I’ll see you around.”
I turned to go, but Blake caught my wrist. His touch was gentle, sending a low hum of electricity from my wrist all the way through my body. Goosebumps raised the hairs on my arms. It even made my nipples stand up.
Crap. I hoped he wouldn’t notice.
When I faced him again, he let me go. A part of me yearned to grab his hand again. I liked the feel of his skin on mine. It was the perfect combination of soft and rough. Callouses on his palms, but only warm skin for the rest.
“Before you take off, I wanted to ask if you would like to have dinner with me tomorrow night.” Those gorgeous eyes burned into mine. I was caught off-guard by the question. I’d been so convinced he wasn’t interested in me that I really hadn’t seen it coming.
He waited patiently for the shock to subside, a small grin playing on his lips. He knew the effect he had on me.
Bastard! But he was a very hot, very intriguing one at that. “Sure, why not? I’ll be at the hotel anyway.”
“Perfect. I hear you have a great restaurant onsite on the deck upstairs.” Man, this guy had confidence in spades. I probably should have taken a minute to think about what I just did. I’d agreed to a date with a guest of the hotel.
Fleetingly, my mind went over our employee policies. I couldn’t think of any saying it was against the rules for me to date a guest. Besides, since the beach trip with Tiffany had reminded me that I actually used to have fun from time to time, I wanted to have more fun.
And what was more fun than a date with a gorgeous, charismatic man? Well, except for a bath and an early night.
Nothing. Nothing was more fun than the prospect of a date with this man. I swept my misgivings over agreeing from my mind.
“I’ll meet you there at seven?” I said, pushing ahead with the plan.
Blake flashed me another smile. “I’ll see you then.”
“Yeah.” I replied, not even bothering to hide my grin. “Yes, you will.”
Chapter 9
Blake
Going to dinner with the managers of our hotels was something I did quite often. It was one of the tools I used to gauge how they really felt about the company. But this was the first time I’d found myself trying on my third shirt before heading out.
Getting dressed for dinner with Aston felt different than it usually did when I was grabbing dinner with a manager. That felt like work, this felt like a date.
One of the girls I’d dated once told me blue shirts made my eyes ‘pop.’ Looking in the full-length mirror in my walk-in closet, I decided I agreed with her. The color of my shirt did bring out my eyes.
And you sound like a fucking girl.
Fuck it, I decided. I was wearing the shirt. The other two looked just fine too, actually. I didn’t even know why I cared. I shouldn’t have cared.
This was a business dinner. Aston was coming to the restaurant after her shift. She might not know it was business for me too, but that hardly mattered. I wasn’t lying to her, and I wasn’t interviewing her without telling her or anything. I just wanted to get to know her better.
Okay, so I wanted to get to know her better to report back to the biggest boss she had, but I wouldn’t get her in trouble. That wasn’t the way I rolled. I got to know the managers a little better, reported back on strengths and weaknesses and gave suggestions about how they could improve.
After fastening my cuff links, I pulled on my shoes and left my room without looking in the mirror again. It wasn’t a date. I’d already spent too much time looking in the mirror while getting dressed. It didn’t matter what I wore. Just like it didn’t matter what she wore.
At least, that was what I told myself until I saw her walking into the dining room in the restaurant. She’d come straight from her shift and she hadn’t changed, judging by the name tag still clinging to her dress, but she looked beautiful. She looked more and more beautiful each time I saw her.
The black dress she was wearing was simple. It dipped low enough in front to reveal a hint of cleavage, but not so much that it was unprofessional. The same could be said for her legs. The dress was long enough not to be inappropriate for work, while still showing off tanned, toned legs. Legs worthy of the large sums Tiffany had joked about turning Danny down over. Now the image of those legs wrapped around my hips had me totally distracted.
I stood up when I saw her arrive. My mother may have left when I was young, but my father had raised a gentleman. Dad was old school and he raised his boys to be the same way. A couple of the lessons got lost on Danny, but I remembered them all.
Watching her cross the room to our table, I couldn’t help but be slightly awed by Aston. I happened to know she’d just worked a nine hour shift, but would never have guessed it if I hadn’t known.
Her hair was pulled in a low bun at the nape of her neck. Some tendrils had escaped during the course of the day and kissed her collarbones, just like I would’ve liked to do if this was an actual date.
It didn’t help that the restaurant was quite romantic at this time of day. Massive windows looked out over the sun now setting over the ocean. On the tables, candles were already burning in glass orbs, casting shadows in the dim lighting that hung overhead.
Deep red table cloths were draped over the tables, with crystal glasses on top of them just waiting to be filled. Waiters were dressed in penguin suits and all seemed ready for a busy shift. The entire setup felt like a damn date.
One of the waiters stopped Aston to talk. An uncomfortable feeling hit me in the gut when she laughed at something he said. It couldn’t be jealousy. I had nothing to be jealous about. Pushing it aside, I watched as she nodded in my direction and closed the distance between us.
“You’re right on time,” she remarked.
I grinned, pulling her chair out for her. She frowned slightly, as if the move surprised her, then smiled and sat down. “Punctuality is the key to success.”
“I thought that was hard work,” she said, her eyes sparkling with humor in the candlelight.
Shaking my head, I explained. “It’s punctuality. Working hard doesn’t mean you’ll be successful, it just means you’ll be tired most of the time.”
Aston laughed. “And being on time means you’ll be successful?”
“It means you’ll give yourself the best shot to be. If you show up late for anything work related it leaves a bad taste in people’s mouths. They’re less inclined to give you the shot if there’s a bad taste in their mouths.”
She inclined her head. “True. Tell me, what is it you need a shot for? You said you were in town for business, but you never told me what business.”
Watch your step, McAllen. “I do quality assurance and finances for a company.”
Aston’s eyes widened. “Impressive. What company?”
“Does it matter?” I asked, then steered the co
nversation away from me. I was here to get to know her. “It’s not important. What about you? Have you decided if you’ll apply for any of those promotions?”
“Not yet. My career is important to me. If I decide to apply for another promotion, it’ll have to be at the right time. I’m just not sure this is it.”
Interesting. “Why not?”
“I’ve only been in my current position for a few months. I’m doing really well at it, I think. I’m happy and challenged. I don’t know if I’m ready for another change yet,” she admitted. “Enough about me. Tell me about you. Do you enjoy quality assurance and finance?”
“Does anyone enjoy finance?” I grinned.
She bounced her head from side to side. “Probably not. I enjoy having finances, if that helps.”
“That’s the only part anyone enjoys, I think.” I told her honestly. I was good at numbers, I always had been. It didn’t mean I particularly enjoyed them. “The quality assurance part of my job isn’t so bad. I enjoy that.”
“Really?” She leaned forward, nodding when a waiter appeared and offered her water. We ordered our drinks and the man left to get them. Scotch for me and white wine for her.
When he was gone, she turned her focus back to me. “What exactly does quality assurance entail? I’m sorry if that’s a stupid question, but I just don’t really know. I’ve never met anyone in that line of work before.”
I briefly explained that part of my job to her, making sure to keep my answer as short and sweet as possible. Our drinks arrived and we ordered our meals. We both opted to skip the appetizers and go straight for the main courses.
We each settled on a seafood platter. One of the pros about being at the ocean was the seafood. I always made sure to get my fill while I was here. Aston and I kept talking as we waited for our food. Talking to her was just so easy.
Conversation flowed effortlessly between us. I was supposed to be getting to know her and asking her questions, but she wasn’t having it. She kept me engaged all through dinner. “Okay, so that’s business, college and school covered. What about family, do you have any siblings?”
“A brother.” I told her. Though she didn’t know exactly who I was, I didn’t lie to her about anything. “We’re not close anymore. We used to be, growing up. Nowadays we argue about everything. What about you?”
“I have a sister,” she said, taking small sips of her wine while we talked. “We’re not that close either. Tiffany is more like a sister to me now. She’s my go-to whenever I need anything. Advice, to complain, to celebrate.”
“It’s important to have friends like that.” I didn’t really have any close friends anymore. Work and traveling had turned me into a bit of a loner. I had plenty of acquaintances, but not many friends. “Are you originally from California?”
She nodded. “Born and bred. I’m ashamed to say I haven’t seen much outside of it actually. You must see the whole country while you’re traveling for your job. What’s that like?”
I’d seen most of the world while traveling for my job, but that wasn’t the question. “It’s amazing. I love it. It can be hard sometimes, since I don’t have much of a home base, but I’m used to it. The idea of settling down in one place seems a little foreign to me.”
“I can’t imagine what that must be like,” she said. “I would love to do some traveling, even if it was for work. At least I’d get to see more of what’s out there. The furthest away I’ve been from home is San Francisco.”
“That’s a beautiful city.” Another place in California I didn’t mind. “If you could go anywhere, where would it be?”
“It is a beautiful city, but it’s not Paris. That’s where I would go, I think.”
I waved my hand. “Paris isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
Aston laughed and signaled the waiter for another glass of wine. “Is that your way of saying you’ve been to Paris without sounding like you’re bragging?”
“Maybe,” I grinned. “Did it work?”
“Not at all.” Her eyes crinkled as she tried to hold back a smile. God, she really was gorgeous.
The waiter arrived with our food. Garlic, lemon and spices filled the air, it smelled heavenly. Then Aston moaned when she took the first bite of her fish and the sound distracted me so much I might as well have been eating sawdust.
When our dinner was done, Aston leaned back in her seat and finished off her glass of wine. “So Blake, this has been fun but tell me, why did you really ask me out tonight?”
It was a sticky question. She was a great girl and I didn’t want to lie to her, but I also couldn’t tell her outright what I was doing. “I just wanted to get to know you, that’s all. You had fun?”
“I did have fun,” she said, swallowing the last sip of wine before setting her glass down. She eyed me for a long minute.
I wasn’t one to get self-conscious, but she was making me feel that way a little. “Do I have parsley in my teeth or something?”
She shook her head. “Or something. Since we have a little time, could I show you something?”
“Well, well, well, color me intrigued. I’m in,” I agreed. “Let me just take care of the check, I’ll meet you out front.”
Surprisingly, for a business dinner, I’d had fun, too. I wondered what she had in store for us next.
Chapter 10
Aston
Blake followed me out the back entrance of the hotel with no questions asked. I appreciated his trust, but I was confused by it. Despite having asked him why he really asked me to dinner, his answer didn’t make sense to me.
He just wanted to get to know me? Why?
I was hoping that showing him my happy place would make him open up a bit more. Though we talked all through dinner, I got the feeling he hadn’t really wanted to talk about himself. I didn’t get any bad vibes from him and I didn’t think he was lying to me, but I suspected there was more to it than just wanting to get to know a hotel manager in a city he was skipping out of in a couple of days.
Traffic was light on this side of town after sunset, but we could hear horns blaring and cars racing by on the main street in front of the hotel. Soundlessly, we made our way up the path that led through the hotel’s gardens and to the trail leading up the hill beside it.
The path and trail were lit by domes of light on knee high stands placed every couple of yards. We walked at a comfortable pace. Blake was quiet, taking in the gardens and the ocean beyond. When we hit the trail, he paused. “We’re going hiking? I should’ve worn better shoes.”
Amusement lightened his tone. I shot him a grin over my shoulder, lifting one of my feet to show him my pumps. “You’ll be fine. It’s not much further.”
“If you say so,” he said, taking off up the trail. I hurried after him, catching up a couple of steps later. Side by side, we made our way up the hill. Just a few minutes later, we made it to the top.
The cliff side we were on overlooked the ocean. The moon was hanging low and cast a silver sheen over the calm water, highlighting the swells as they rose.
“Wow,” Blake whistled. “It’s beautiful up here.”
I nodded, walking over to a boulder I liked to sit on while I watched the sea. I pulled off my pumps and planted my feet on the warm rock to take a seat. “It’s my favorite place in the whole hotel.”
“I can see why.” He came over and sat down on a lower part of the rock, bending over to remove his shoes. “Do you come up here often?”
I bounced my head from side to side. “As often as I can. I try to come out here at least once a week. It helps me relax and clear my mind.”
Blake’s socks and shoes were off. He scooted back on the rock until he was sitting beside me. “To get your mind off work?”
“Yeah.” My job wasn’t that stressful, but some days were worse than others. Difficult guests, altercations between staff members, new ideas to chew over. I came out here to think about all of it. “Sometimes it’s to get my mind off work, sometimes it’s to clear
the clutter so I can focus on work.”
Nodding slowly, he looked out over the water. “It’s a hell of a spot to have handy for that kind of thing.”
“Where do you go to think?”
Chuckling softly, he shrugged. “There’s no one place I can go, really. Next time I’m in California, I’ll come here.”
“Don’t you dare,” I joked. “It’s my spot.”
“I’ll make sure you’re not using it before I come up,” he agreed solemnly, his lips curled up at the corners. “You take your job very seriously.”
“Isn’t that how you should take your job? Seriously?” Many people didn’t work hard, but that wasn’t an option for me. I wanted to take pride in my work and give it my best each and every day. I couldn’t do less than that. I would never forgive myself if I ever lost a job because I didn’t give it my best.
Blake’s head tipped up to the blanket of stars stretching out in every direction above us. “You’re right, but not everyone takes it as seriously as you do. Have you always been this way, or is it your new position motivating you?”
Lifting my hand, I tilted it first one way then the other. “A bit of both. I worked hard to get to where I am and I’m hoping if I keep it up, I’ll get further.”
“At the same company?” he asked, turning his head to look at me. My answer seemed important to him. I could see it in his eyes.
Strange. “If they’ll keep me on, then yes.”
“Why this company?” His brows knitted. “Have you ever considered expanding your horizons?”
Again, the question seemed important. An idea took shape in my mind, and it made more sense to me than the answer he’d given earlier. Angling so I faced him head on, I confronted him about it. “Are you trying to get me to come over to your company? Is that what tonight is really about?”
He pulled his head back in surprise, shaking it as he dropped his chin. “Not at all. I told you, I just wanted to get to know you better. I’m not trying to headhunt you. I’m not in human resources and even if I was trying to poach you, I would’ve told you.”